19 October 2014

Diners and Chocolate Crispy Treats

Right before we closed on our apartment, I watched a sweet
little video about the dying (extinct?) art of neon sign making in New
York City. Which is why, shortly after moving into our new Chicago
apartment, I couldn't help but noticing the classic neon signs that
seemed to be everywhere in this town. There are at least five within a
short radius of our home, and one of my favorites is the neon flower
sign on LaSalle Flowers, which sticks out at a funny catty-corner angle
to the street. The flower shop sits not far from an original Howard
Johnsons, the kind with the sweet peaked roofs, which is itself home to
the Cafe Luna.
The Cafe Luna is exactly what I want a diner to be: a no frills place
with endless coffee refills, eggs prepared a thousand ways, pancake
combo platters, and a great grilled cheese.

Given its
proximity to our home, Paul and I spend many Sunday mornings at the Cafe
Luna, where our conversation often circles back to the things we love
about Chicago. You see, those things like the neon signs and the diners
symbolize something that cities like New York and Washington DC have
managed to price themselves out of. In Manhattan or D.C. you would be
hard-pressed to find a diner that doesn't charge $15 for pancakes and
offer an array of cocktails, an ironic theme, and expect you to vacate
your table as soon as you have finished eating. And, in those cities,
the neon signs are gone because corporations and businesses have bought
up the majority of the real estate, and no one bothers to fix neon
anymore. Which is why the LaSalle flower sign always makes me smile.

Thus, we were very sad to hear a few months ago that the Howard Johnsons has been sold to a real estate developer to be demolished.
The Cafe Luna can stay open for another year, until the demolition
happens, though the owner's son recently told me he wasn't sure they
would have enough business now that the hotel has closed.

I
want to be clear that there was nothing write-home worthy about the
cafe, it's not a gastropub, nor a Shopsin's, it's just a small
family-run place where I can walk in and get coffee and waffles, which
is exactly as it should be. Cities need places like the Luna Cafe, where
a cabbie can stop and get a omelet to go, or someone hard up for cash
can come in and count out their exact change next to an (admittedly more
well off) local home owner like myself.

I've been
thinking a lot about why I'm drawn to places like this. Many of my
friends would probably tell you, not unjustifiably, that I'm a food
snob, and I've been known to be a harsh critic of restaurants on
occasion. So what makes me love a place that has no issue with putting
whipped cream out of can onto its pancakes? Diners and breakfast cafes
are a huge part of the American experience to me, not just the food
culture but the culture-culture. A diner is in many ways like the first hamsani
(local hummus place) I wandered into as a twenty-year-old in Beirut,
alone, where I sat and had a meal of hummus and chatted with locals and
where my eyes were opened to a whole culture for the first time. I had
spent three years studying Middle Eastern studies, but it wasn't until I
sat in that cafe and talked to people that I really got it.

These
places are also places where people of all social strata not only cross
paths, but might actually sit and eat together in some tangential way.
And in our society these days, I fear there aren't many places where
that happens often anymore.

*** In other news, our
move to Cairo is impending shortly, where I hope to find my local
koshari place (and whatever the Cairene equivalent of hamsani/ful vendor
there is). If you readers have suggestions please do send them this
way. Also, though it would probably be most appropriate to follow this
post by a recipe for pancakes, the truth is I buy all my pancakes at
diners, and so instead you get this recipe which I make every once in a
while for a twist on rice krispie treats. They are guaranteed to
disappear from your office in under 10 minutes. ***

Nutty Chocolate Crispy TreatsThis recipe was inspired by something I found online, deep in the internets, when I was trying to use up a bunch of things in our pantry like agave and coconut oil. You can also try topping the treats with a schmearing of melted chocolate and sea salt.

1. Measure out your cereal and have it at the ready. Line a 9x12 inch pan with parchment paper.
2. Get out a large deep pot (a small stock pot works nicely). Place the agave and maple syrup in the pot and bring the mixture to a roiling boil. Watch the mixture so it doesn't boil over, but luckily you're using a deep pot! Let the mixture boil for one minute. Turn off the heat and immediately stir in the nutella, nut butter, chocolate, oil, and salt. Stir well to combine. Fold in the rice crisp cereal, working quickly to mix everything together.
3. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and press down using a nonstick spatula or damp fingers. Let the treats rest for at least 3 hours before slicing. Cut into bars using a knife or sharp-edged spatula.

6 comments:

Hi Janice - I haven't tried this, but I think you can substitute any liquid sweetener for the agave. You could make your own simple syrup -- simply boil 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water until the sugar dissolves, then set aside to cool. Once it's cool, measure out the syrup for the recipe. Since simple syrup will be sweeter than agave, I'd recommend using 3/4 cup in the recipe, instead of the full of cup.

However, if you can, I'd highly recommend picking up some agave syrup, which is available at most groceries. Hope that helps!

I lived/worked in Cairo from Aug 2002 to Sep 2003. It was such a colorful, vibrant city! Visited the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Cairo museum, Khan El Khaleeli... We also had a favorite koshery place somewhere in Downtown Cairo.

Hi Mercedes, Ive followed your blog for a while, back when you made mashed carrot salad, and chicken roasted in bread (yum) and have always wondered what line of work you're in that you get to travel and explore these amazing countries so intimately. I love Cairo. My favourite place will always be Shoubra, and staying up until the foul man comes with breakfast :)